Nine out of 29 Naxalites killed in Kanker encounter identified so far: Police

Kanker: Police have identified nine of the 29 Naxalites eliminated by security personnel during an encounter in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district on Tuesday, a senior official said.

While the identities of two Naxalites were ascertained on Tuesday following the encounter, seven more have been identified till Wednesday evening, Inspector General of Police (Bastar Range) Sundarraj P said.

The killed Naxalites who have been identified are Shankar Rao and Lalita, both divisional committee members; Madhvi, Ramshila and Ranjitha – members of north Bastar division; Jugni, Sukhlal and Shrikant of Partapur area committee and Rupi, a commander of Medhki LOS (local organization squad), he said.

Efforts are on to determine the identities of the remaining killed Maoists, he said.

Officials had said earlier that there are 70-80 cadres in the north Bastar division committee of Maoists which has four area committees – Raoghat, Partapur, Kuve and Kisodo.

As many as 22 weapons, including one AK-47 rifle, two Insas rifles, one Self-Loading Rifle (SLR), one carbine, three .303 rifles, two 315 bore rifles, two 9MM pistols, two country-made launchers, eight muzzle-loading guns and one country-made hand grenade were from the encounter site, he said.

Besides, a huge cache of ammunition, explosives, Maoist literature and items of daily use were also found at the scene of the gun battle.

The source of weapons, which were mostly looted from security personnel following encounters in the past, is yet to be ascertained, he said.

In a major counter-insurgency operation, 29 Naxalites, including 15 women, clad in "uniform", were killed in an encounter with security personnel near Binagunda village under Chhotebethiya police station limits on Tuesday.

Three security personnel also suffered injuries in the exchange of fire.